Tuesday Morning News Roundup

Stanford University officials said a graduate engineering student was found dead Monday in the college's Paul G. Allen Building.

Santa Clara County sheriff's deputies were sent to the university at about 10 a.m. for an investigation into the death of a man, sheriff's spokesman Deputy Michael Low said.

Sheriff's officials are referring other questions to the Santa Clara County medical examiner's office, which was not releasing the name of the person Monday night. University public safety officials said no threat exists for anyone in the school community.

Jennifer Widom, Frederick Emmons Terman dean of the School of Engineering, said, "I know I speak for all of us here at Stanford in offering our sympathies to the individual's family, loved ones, fellow students and friends."

Widom said and investigation into the student's death is underway. She said the county medical examiner is getting in touch with the student's family and until that is done the student's name won't be released.

A federal appeals court in San Francisco on Monday upheld the authority of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to override environmental laws when building border walls.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said "the plain language" of a 1996 immigration law entitles the department's secretary to waive environmental laws to install barriers and roads along the border.

A three-panel of the court ruled in lawsuits filed by the state of California and several environmental groups to challenge the current construction of prototype walls and 14 miles of replacement fencing in San Diego County and three miles at Calexico in Imperial County.

In 2017, former Acting Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke waived 37 federal laws for the San Diego County projects and 27 for the Calexico project. The projects are under way with funding previously approved by Congress.

Center for Biological Diversity attorney Brian Segee said the group is weighing its options for a possible further appeal.

A homeless man suspected of raping a woman in the unincorporated area of San Martin was arraigned in Santa Clara County Superior Court Monday.

Sharwian Bobian was charged with rape, in addition to a littering charge, and will remain in custody with bail set at $250,000, according to the Santa Clara County District Attorney's office.

Bobian was arrested Friday morning in the area of Yerba Buena Road and U.S. Highway 101 in San Jose after being seen by an officer in the area. The case was then transferred to the sheriff's office.

A woman who had been assisting him by providing food and supplies at his makeshift shelter in the 14000 block of Llagas Avenue reported the alleged rape to law enforcement in January.

Charges were not immediately filed in the case and Bobian was released, sparking controversy. His next court date is scheduled for Wednesday in Morgan Hill.

A San Francisco Superior Court judge on Monday said he would allow the names of 14 abortion rights workers who were allegedly secretly recorded in 2015 by two anti-abortion activists to be kept private in court filings.

The activists, David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt, face 15 felony counts each for filming conversations with the workers during annual meetings of the National Abortion Federation in San Francisco and Baltimore in 2014 and 2015.

State prosecutors filed the charges and have alleged the recordings were done in secret in an attempt to prove that Planned Parenthood was illegally selling fetal tissue.

Daleiden and Merritt pleaded not guilty in the case.

Judge Christopher Hite ruled that the names of those recorded should be redacted in court filings after Deputy Attorney General Johnette Jauron argued that if made public, the workers' safety could be put in jeopardy.

Victims of wage theft in Santa Clara County asked the Board of Supervisors Monday to properly enforce existing laws designed to protect workers and their labor rights.

The board will decide Tuesday whether to increase funding for the new Office of Labor Standards Enforcement, established last year, and broaden its purview.

In advance of the meeting, caretakers, restaurant workers and labor activists gathered to ask that these protections be inclusive of all industries and individuals that are often targets of wage theft.

This includes women and people of color, those that are undocumented, and many who do not have the language proficiency to advocate for themselves, said Derecka Mehrens, executive director of Working Partnerships USA.

She and others pushed for expanded funding, especially for those who have been successful in filing claims against their employers, but have not received their settlements.

Police arrested an Antioch man who crashed a stolen pickup truck into a home while fleeing officers Sunday night, police said.

An officer first spotted the suspect about 11:30 p.m. driving a Ford F-250 truck with license plates that didn't match the vehicle, police said.

According to police, the officer tried to pull the vehicle over, but the driver took off, leading police on a chase. The driver, identified as Mark Dickinson, 53, eventually lost control of the truck and crashed into the home on Golden Bear Drive, police said.

Residents in the home were not injured. While officers were trying to take Dickinson into custody, he resisted and a police dog assisted, Antioch police said.

The vehicle was stolen out of Concord, according to police. The incident remains under investigation.

Fire crews are on the scene of a 1-alarm fire at a warehouse in Antioch early Tuesday morning, according to fire officials.

The blaze that has consumed a warehouse was first reported around 12:30 a.m. in the 1500 block of Walnut Avenue, according to Contra Costa County Fire Protection District Captain Tracie Dutter.

Other buildings, including trailers and outbuildings on the property, were also threatened, but Dutter said the fire had been knocked down to just the warehouse as of 1:15 a.m. There are no initial reports of injuries.

According to Dutter, there are no hydrants near the scene, so fire crews had to call for water tenders to battle the blaze.

No further information is immediately available.

At least one person has died and another has been injured following a pair of shootings in Oakland on Monday, according to police.

The homicide occurred around 9 p.m. in the 600 block of Clara Street, police said. The victim wasn't identified.

Earlier in the day, a separate shooting was reported around 12:30 p.m. in the 3400 block of Foothill Boulevard, police said. A person suffering from at least one gunshot wound was transported to a hospital. The severity of their injuries wasn't provided.